Mark Bosnich

Mark Bosnich (born January 13, 1972), is Australia's best ever soccer goalkeeper, representing his country on many occasions and playing for English Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United, and Chelsea.

Growing up in Fairfield, a suburb of Sydney, Bosnich played briefly for Sydney Croatia (a team in the Australian National Soccer League), before moving, at age 16, to join Manchester United. After two seasons there, he left to join Aston Villa, where he made his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.

His appearances with the Australian national team were quite rare (as indeed they are for most Australian players, as a full-strength Australian side is only assembled for World Cup qualification playoffs), but memorable, keeping Australia in the away leg of its home-and-away playoff with Iran to enter the 1996 Cup. His heroics were wasted after midfield defensive errors and missed opportunities allowed Iran a 2-2 draw in the home leg and thus let them through on away goals.

In 1999, he transferred back to United, but it was not a happy move, as he was soon relegated to third-choice keeper, and chose to stay at United and try to regain his spot rather than accept being loaned to Scottish club Celtic. He transferred to Chelsea in 2001, but again failed to gain a place in the first team.

Bosnich went through an apparently bitter marriage breakup around this period, and in mid-2002 his football career reached rock-bottom when he tested positive to cocaine. When a second sample tested positive some time later, he was suspended from playing and also sacked by Chelsea.